10 Points: Texas Tech Slammed in Norman
By Erik Garza
Texas Tech’s road woes continued on Saturday afternoon in miserable fashion, and culminated in a blowout victory for the Oklahoma Sooners as they defeated the Red Raiders 63-27. The venture up north is probably something the majority of the team would like to forget, however a laundry list of issues will be need to be addressed as a date with Oklahoma State looms next.
10 Points from Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma:
- Defensive Debacle — Texas Tech’s defense for all intents and purposes, might as well have stayed in the team locker room for the majority of the game. Oklahoma’s stout backfield embarrassed the Red Raider defense, racking up 405 yards on the ground and routinely tearing through Tech front seven. Unfortunately, this is a book Texas Tech fans will have read at least a hundred times by now; the defense is horrible and seems unlikely to make improvements of any significance. A silver lining? Texas Tech continues to add to their positive turnover ratio, something that will be needed in the challenges to come.
- Mahomes Rattled — Texas Tech’s defensive struggles seem to be having an effect on their starting quaterback. Patrick Mahomes II has shown a tendency to improvise when needed, and remain calm in the face of adversity brought on by the opposition. However, Mahomes seems to struggle with adversity brought on from his own team, in particular his offensive line’s inability to provide adequate protection. Mahomes accounted for four interceptions against Oklahoma, but the argument could be made all but one were a result of the offensive line disintegrating when pressured. Texas Tech seems to take on the personality of their quarterback in both good times and bad. When the latter happens things become disastrous for Texas Tech.
- Mental Preparation — A Texas-sized red flag shot up last week when an unmotivated and seemingly disinterested Texas Tech squad struggled to put winless Kansas away late in the fourth quarter. The thought amongst the fanbase was that the performance in Kansas was an exception to Texas Tech’s otherwise solid level of play up to that point in the season. Unfortunately, Tech’s continued uninspired play against their last two opponents seems to be indicative of an overall lack of mental preparedness. Texas Tech has struggled in the month of November in recent years, if they hope to avoid another repeat next Saturday they’ll have to find a way out of this funk.
- The Mayfield Narrative — For all the ESPN-hyped narrative surrounding Baker Mayfield taking on his former team the Oklahoma quarterback’s greatest contribution to his team’s winning effort was handing the ball off to Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine. Mayfield may have been on the victorious team, but his performance was rather pedestrian, and at-times reminiscent of his days at Texas Tech.
- Post-Season Hopes — The Red Raiders’ post-season ambitions took a knock with their beatdown at hands of the Sooners. Unfortunately, things don’t look much easier in the coming weeks with dates against Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Kansas State, and finally Texas on Thanksgiving. November hasn’t been kind to the Red Raiders over the last few years and right now the team seems to be waivering right when they need to be peaking.
- Offensive Ineptitude — A large part of Texas Tech’s recent struggles can be attributed to their overall lack of offensive production since thumping Iowa State at home two weeks ago. Texas Tech’s offense seems nearly unstoppable when firing on all cylinders, however with recent injuries to the receiving corps and a patchwork offensive line the Mahomes-led air raid has been stymied. Further complicating the offensive issues have been senseless penalties and turnovers.
- Blame Game — Some amount of blame is likely to be directed at David Gibbs, as play on the defensive side of the ball was absolutely horrendous. However, the issues on defense seem to reside with the player personnel, and their depth, rather than coaching or playcalling. Right now Texas Tech is dealing with the repercussions of having seven different defensive coordinators in seven years. The revolving door doesn’t just affect staff turnover, but rather position depth, system learning, and most of all: recruiting. Texas Tech simply doesn’t have enough play-makers.
- Overrated — Texas Tech’s inability to hold Oklahoma on crucial third downs. The Sooners were 1o/13 on third down conversions and 1/1 on fourth down.
- Underrated — Tempering your expectations. Texas Tech’s performance against Kansas, combined with their drubbing at the hands of Oklahoma should have even the most die-hard Red Raider fans a little closer to Earth. Blowing-out UTEP and Iowa State was fun, as was defeating Arkansas and playing TCU close. However, none of that will matter if Texas Tech fails to notch a sixth win.
- Final Thought — Oklahoma State is long overdue for a loss on the season. Similarly, Texas Tech is due for a victory against the Cowboys. especially after wasting away their opportunity in last year’s match. However, the Cowboys will still be a formidable opponent as they make their way to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Red Raiders at Jones AT&T Stadium at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will broadcast on the ESPN/ABC family of networks.